If downloads on Myspace translated into record sales, The Scene Aesthetic would be a world-wide phenomenon.

The duo’s single “Beauty in the Breakdown” is a pseudo-Dashboard Confessional tour de force about young love falling apart. It has been downloaded over 3 million times. In music terms, the single is bigger than 50 Cent’s last album, which sold about 2.5 million copies, the most by far last year.

Yet, the band remains unsigned by a major label. I caught up with Eric Bowley from The Scene Aesthetic who shared his views on record companies, the future, and crazy fans.

Preface: How did you guys form? When did everything begin?
Eric: Andrew and I met in December of ‘04 on our way to a party. We joked around about writing a song together and a few weeks later found ourselves in my basement writing what later became “Beauty in the Breakdown.” It all happened so unintentionally. We didn’t plan any of this out from the beginning. Once we had Beauty recorded we wanted to put it online and show it to some of our friends without actually sending the file out. That required us to create a “Band Name” for the online streaming sites such as Myspace & Purevolume. That’s when we agreed that all of the music we’d write together would be under the band name The Scene Aesthetic.

Preface: How does it feel to know that you have created such a strong fan-base with such little (in the grand scheme of things) promotion?
Eric: It feels incredible to be honest. We’ve been very lucky to have such a loyal following from the amount of promotion that we’ve done for the band.

Preface: How much help has Myspace, and the internet in general, been to your career?
Eric: I’d say it’s been a huge help. Probably the biggest out of all the different mediums available to promote a band these days. It just makes sense to use those sites. The kids are already there and eager for new music.

Preface: Have you been approached by any major record labels?
Eric: Yes we have, several in fact. We’re just not interested at the moment with being bought out by someone who’s bigger. That’s not to speak for years down the road, but right now we’re happy where we’re at.

Preface: How out of touch do you think major record labels are with today’s youth, and music fans in general?
Eric: I wouldn’t say they’re THAT out of touch at all. I also wouldn’t say I have much experience at all in the way most major record labels work with those types of things. But I think they have a good grasp on the changing media and are trying to keep themselves as updated as possible in what has always been an ever-changing environment.

When I began to research The Scene Aesthetic, I was shocked to see the fan-fare that the duo is receiving. The band posted a Youtube link to their video for “Beauty in the Breakdown,” after watching the video, there were several “related videos” including: bombastic live performances (where you can barely hear the band over the roar of the ravenous fans singing the lyrics in the background), two young emo-kids mouthing the lyrics to “Beauty” as they sit on a couch, and even a guy in his pajamas sitting on his bed playing guitar and singing a couple Scene Aesthetic songs.

Some say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but some of this stuff was downright strange, I asked Eric about it.

Preface: How do you react when the fans are singing along to the music at the shows?
Eric: Is it ever overwhelming when you realize that you have touched these people’s lives so vividly? It’s so surreal. I don’t know that we even realize what we’re accomplishing outside of our own little worlds. We get a taste of it when we travel to states that are on the opposite side of the country and so many loyal and supportive fans come out to our shows. I would say that the more we think about that the more overwhelming it can become. It’s not that we choose not to recognize the success that we’re having. We just want to remain as level headed at possible through all of this.

Through all the craziness that two years has brought Eric and Andrew they still manage to keep a level head. The quality of their music is more important to them then the quantity of the money in their pockets. With the upcoming re-release of their new album, a huge following, and record companies lining up to sink their teeth into The Scene Aesthetic, they remain focused.

Preface: What do you think that The Scene Aesthetic needs to do to really break into mainstream music?
Eric: Well there obviously comes a point and time where you reach a plateau of what you can do on your own. You’ll eventually need the connections to get your music into the hands of all your fans that shop at Best Buy, Target, Circuit City, iTunes, etc. There are lots of different ways you could go about doing that. But getting signed to a label that has those kinds of connections already and who can offer those to your music would definitely be the next step. It’s hard to think about putting the future of your band into the life of some record label executive.

Preface: What is the key to your current success then?
Eric: Giving people a reason to come back over and over again. It’s one thing to promote a ton and see your online plays and sales go up for a short period of time. You know you’ve been successful when those numbers remain high and continue to grow.

Preface: Where do you hope to be in the next few years?
Eric: I’d like The Scene Aesthetic’s discography to be a few records deep. We have a lot of material we’re excited to release, especially with the re-release of our album this spring. It’s packed with a slew of new songs that we can’t wait for people to hear.

Rest assured TSA, there are over 3 million people who can’t wait to hear the new songs.

Source: http://iusbpreface.wordpress.com/2006/12/10/on-the-verge-the-preface-chats-with-myspace-heroes-the-scene-aesthetic/